On Monday, Scandinavian Airlines will launch its first service out of San Francisco International Airport -- with nonstop flights to Copenhagen six days a week.

For SAS, it's also a West Coast first. The airline currently offers nonstops to Denmark only from Chicago, New York and Washington, D.C.

"The new route will benefit business and leisure travelers, Scandinavian imports and exports and has been highly sought after by the Scandinavian business community," Rickard Gustafson, the CEO of SAS Group, said in a statement.

Copenhagen is a major hub for SAS, with connections to elsewhere in Scandinavia, Russia, the Baltics, Poland and Germany.

The new flights will leave SFO at 5:35 p.m. (except Tuesdays) and land in Copenhagen the next day at 1:15 p.m. Return flights will depart at 12:25 p.m. and arrive in San Francisco at 2:24 p.m. the same day. SAS estimates the flying time at 11 hours, 20 minutes.

The airline uses wide-body Airbus A330 and A340 jets on its trans-Atlantic routes.

Monday's inaugural flight will land at 2:45 p.m. at SFO, where it will be greeted with the traditional water cannon salute.

Germany has a new $348 million airport that critics are already calling a waste of money.

The Kassel-Calden Airport in central Germany has about a dozen scheduled flights a week. Officials opened the facility, which was largely funded by regional governments, on Thursday.

Hesse state Gov. Volker Bouffier argued that expanding the previously existing, smaller airfield would help attract more business to the region. But currently, most flights are to Mediterranean vacation spots.

Critics say Kassel-Calden is too close to airports such as Hannover and Paderborn. It's also less than two hours by train from Germany's main Frankfurt hub.

Joachim Papendick of the state branch of the Alliance of Taxpayers called it a "questionable use of public money."

-- Associated Press

HOTELS

Hotel chains offering free Internet access

The world's largest hotel company is giving its guests free Internet access.

But there is a catch.

InterContinental Hotel Group, which includes the Holiday Inn, Intercontinental and Crowne Plaza brands, said guests will get free Internet at IHG's 4,600 hotels worldwide by joining its newly renamed loyalty program, IHG Rewards Club. To join, members must submit an email and a business or home address, which can be shared with third-party businesses.

The offer will begin in July for elite reward members and extend to other members in 2014.

-- Los Angeles Times

ASIA

Rape cases threaten India's tourism business

Violence against women in India, and the huge publicity generated by recent attacks, is threatening the country's $17.7 billion tourism industry.

A new study out of New Delhi shows that tourism has plunged, especially among women, since an Indian student was raped on a bus and died from her injuries. Concerns grew after the gang rape of a Swiss woman and after a British woman jumped from a hotel room window, fearing the manager was trying to break in to assault her.

Foreign tourist arrivals have dropped 25 percent since December, and the number of female travelers fell by 35 percent, the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry said. The study, which surveyed 1,200 tour operators in India, indicated that "concerns about the safety of female travelers" have changed tourists' plans.

The government denies any fall-off in tourism.

-- Associated Press

UNITED STATES

L.A. museum exhibit honors Whitney Houston

A special Whitney Houston exhibit at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles features interactive musical stations, costumes, trophies and personal artifacts on loan from the Houston family.

Museumgoers can create a customized remix of her 1985 recording of "How Will I Know," sing background vocals on "I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)" or simply listen to performance clips and interviews with Houston's collaborators.

The display -- "Whitney! Celebrating the Musical Legacy of Whitney Houston" -- will be up through May 27. Details: www.grammymuseum.org.

-- Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Summer rail service: Boston to Cape Cod

Massachusetts transportation officials are launching a summer weekend rail service between Boston and Cape Cod.

It will run between Boston's South Station and Hyannis from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day and connect with Cape Cod bus and ferry services. Fares are $20 one-way and $35 round-trip.

-- Associated Press

AIR TRAVEL

Boeing 787 testing more than half done

Boeing said it has finished more than half of the testing on its proposed battery fix for the 787 Dreamliner.

Smoldering batteries -- including one fire on the ground -- prompted air safety authorities to ground the world's 787s in mid-January. Boeing has developed what it believes is a permanent fix, including more heat insulation and a system for venting battery gases.

The tests under way now are aimed at demonstrating that the fix worked, spokesman Marc Birtel said. Ultimately, the Federal Aviation Administration will have to certify the changes before the planes fly again.